So good you can’t even tell it’s vegan

SANDWICHES ANYONE?: Every sandwich is made on the country loaf baked in the kitchen behind the counter. [Photo by Mia Szabo]

DENVER — The idea of a vegan bakery and café probably evokes the imagery of an chic urban restaurant filled with fashionable hipsters, nursing cups of wheatgrass, eating overpriced, unappetizing and unidentifiable foods. After all, vegan means no animal products like eggs nor even butter can go into the food. Thankfully, upon entering Denver’s Beet Box Bakery and Café the only thing to greet a costumer is a sweets case filled with brownies, cinnamon rolls, crescents, and more. In fact, without a little internet research the average customer may not even realize they’re in a vegan bakery, which is owner Mike Craig’s goal.

“I don’t want there to be a stigma around what we make as a bakery,” Craig says. “We don’t want that [word] to inhibit people from at least giving us a shot.”

Beet Box Bakery makes everything from scratch. If ordering a latte the coffee will come with house made almond milk. Every sandwich is made on the country loaf baked in the kitchen behind the counter and the cashew cream on the vastly popular avocado melt is fresh made that day.

Don’t be fooled by the bakery’s understated storefront, there is more to Beet Box than meets the eye. It is Denver’s vegan baked goods supplier. All those yummy vegan baked goods at Pablo’s Coffee came straight from the Beet Box kitchen. In fact, Beet Box sells their goods at wholesale to more than 30 companies all over the city. They have even capped their orders on vegan wedding cakes to 10 a month.

A BAKERY CASE FULL OF TREATS: Beet Box costumer are greeted by sweets case filled with brownies, cinnamon rolls, crescents and more.[Photo by Mia Szabo]

Why do they want vegan?
Many vegans, including Craig are vegans for animal rights and the environment.Often vegans have a moral objection to the treatment livestock and farming techniques. A little over a year ago “pink slime,” a filler added to meat products only gave the vegan movement more momentum. Many vegans also believe that an all-plant based diet is better than traditional diets. Beet Box Bakery uses mostly organic ingredients.

“We use mostly organic/non-GMO ingredients in all of our foods,” Craig explains. “We never use artificial food colorings, preservatives, or hydrogenated oils. Our bakery is great for people egg and dairy allergies, and we can easily accommodate nut and gluten allergies, too.”

In addition to vegans eating vegan food there are a lot of people who aren’t vegan that love to eat it. The commonality of food allergies is growing all the time, dairy and egg allergies are among the most common. The more that people can’t eat dairy or eggs, the more they gravitate towards vegan products if only for the simplicity that the word “vegan” provides. It is often easier to find something that is “vegan” than to be forced to read long ingredient lists just to make sure there isn’t any egg or dairy. Beet Box Bakery has a lot of customers who come in because it is the only place they can find food everyone in the family can eat.

Being a vegan may not be for everyone, but with places like Beet Box Bakery, vegan food certainly is.